In developing a series of home automation devices, a large part of development may be spent in repetitive tasks to create network interface software. These tasks may include adding and removing nodes from the network, testing network connectivity, and updating network topology. A number of developers may develop offshoot products based on the home automation network. A large amount of time may be spent in training these developers on the underlying protocol and on these repetitive tasks.
The current home automation network models may place the PC at the center of the home automation system. Users are required to have a PC running all the time to ensure proper operation. Once the PC is removed from the system, network and application software become difficult to upgrade in the field.
Further, home automation networks have, in the past, been designed from and engineering point of view and may require large bandwidth to operate. The user interface and system understanding may require a large amount of technical background. Existing product development platforms may require the developer to understand the underlying network protocol or mandate rewrites of software to accommodate new networks on which the applications operate.
Existing software development platforms may not be portable to multiple network protocols. Porting the applications may not be possible if the network were expanded across different protocols. Also, interconnecting multiple network protocols requires that a specialized device be made to make each device look like its analog in the other protocol.